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Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle
Collection: Correspondence
MS. Wilde
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Description
Material described in this finding aid
represents the main correspondence portion of the Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle
collection at the Clark Library. The collection includes letters by Wilde, his wife, his mother, Lord Alfred Douglas, More
Adey,
Christopher Millard, Robert Ross, and Adela Schuster, among many others.
Background
Oscar Wilde was born Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin,
Ireland, October 16, 1854. He attended Trinity College and Magdalen College,
Oxford, winning the Newdigate prize in 1878 for the poem
Ravenna. He subsequently established
himself in London society as a champion of the new Aesthetic movement,
advocating "art for art's sake," and publishing reviews and his
Poems (1881). After being satirized (and
made famous) as Bunthorne, the fleshly aesthetic poet in Gilbert and Sullivan's
Patience, he made a year-long lecture tour
of the United States, speaking on literature and the decorative arts. After his return
to London, he married Constance Lloyd in 1884; they had two sons, Cyril and
Vyvyan Holland. In 1891 he met and began a love affair with the handsome but
temperamental poet, Lord Alfred Douglas.
Extent
92 boxes, 8 feet of
bound volumes.
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must
be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library as the owner of the
physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
Collection is open for research.